


Blind Magic

by Lady_Anaia_Lionel



Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton, Howl's Moving Castle - All Media Types
Genre: Character Substitution, F/M, M/M, Multi, Original Character(s), Remix
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-15 02:32:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8039011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Anaia_Lionel/pseuds/Lady_Anaia_Lionel
Summary: This story is a remix (I think that is right) based off the wonderful stories by both the Howl's Moving Castle film and the book of the same name. This story features some original characters and a few not so original characters (Read: Jason from Anita Blake found his way in here) from stories written between myself and friends. It takes the characters you know and love and replaces them with some new ones and the way the story changes and unfolds is both similar and incredibly different as the characters with new personalities interact with one another and face the world with their own challenges as well as ones from the stories themselves. How will the story unfold differently with new people in their places? Look inside and see for yourself!





	1. A Walk That Took a Wrong Turn

 

There was the sound of the train outside again. Head barely rose as the sound rattled the window slightly and hand carefully moved out to herd the little bits of silver and her tools trying to escape, “Ah, no you stay there. You are going to be a beautiful pair of earrings for a very special person today. Someone is going to get lucky today. I am sure of it.” She was carefully winding and twisting the metal into twirled little bars for the tiniest cage. The cage was an open bloom like a flower and she gently dropped a polished sphere that was barely as big as her nail into its nesting and started to close the sapphire stone up into the little cage. Twisting the metal off, she added a tiny ring and hung a metal heart-shaped charm onto it.

 

Excellent! A bright smile shone in glee on a soot covered face as she pushed her goggles off of her head. Then she moved the large magnifying glass out of the way. She carefully unfastened the earring from the clamp and picked up the other one off of the velvet nest to her side, she beamed, “Look at you little pretties. I bet you will make a girl look lovely today. I better give you to Ralene.”

 

Itisha spun on her stool and hopped down, overalls ballooning before bare feet padded across the room tucked in the back of the house.

 

“Ral!” She called out, carefully holding the earrings as she walked out to the shop front where a few of the local girls also helped out. Most times they loitered, but they were good at spreading the word about the jewelry. Usually it was in the form of display as many of them owned her pieces.

 

Despite the soot on Itisha’s face her smile was brilliant as she held the earrings out with both hands, “I finished them! Now you have something to go with that necklace.”

 

Ralene looked over to the shorter woman and raised a brow slightly. Amusement on her lips as she spotted the orange oversized shirt that was far too large for her and overalls just about the same. Perhaps the only saving grace had been that she was able to take in the overalls a little for Itisha before she tripped herself over the legs of them. It made her sister look even shorter.

 

Ralene on the other hand had her golden hair drawn back with care, using a piece of silver jewelry to fasten it. A soft pale green dress swept around her ankles as she very carefully she took the jewelry from Itisha and looked them over, “I will need to polish them, Miss Soot-spot.”

 

Another analyzing look over them, ”They are beautiful though. How much time did you spend on these?” She was already moving off to clean them with one of the soft cloths, making them shine even more brightly than before.

 

"Not too long, I spent most of the morning actually finishing up the order for the Engineers first. Seems some of the pieces are getting a bit worn down. Plus, they are building a new train elsewhere soon so they are going to need the parts."

 

Itisha beamed brightly and checked the time, "Shiiiiiiiiiiii-" A withering look from Ralene stopped her from swearing. Right, no cursing where there are customers. Instead Itisha stole a moment to watch as her sister set the earrings out which one of the girls quickly fawned over. Glad to know they appreciated the effort.

 

"Ship. I need to shiiiip the goods. Though the mail man already passed. I’ll walk them down myself." Itisha amended as she started to turn to go back into the workshop. She was stopped by a tug on her long braid.

 

"Itisha, wash up first, you smell like the furnace. Take the day off, today is Mayday. You shouldn’t be cooped up breathing in all that soot. I can hardly tell what color your hair is. Much less tell if it is hair anymore." A face made as Ralene rubbed her hands off on a rag. The white hair was coarse from the heat. Burned in some places. Black soot drenching it in most places or greying the hair that managed to escape a fate so far. The smith put in too many hours fulfilling orders. Despite her size, Itisha was the only one who could handle the strain it put on the body.

 

Ever since Talith had become sick Itisha had been working extra hard. They had to pay back what they borrowed to cure the girl after all. Something the middle child had taken upon herself to ensure all went as smoothly as possible.

 

A face was made by the smith, “I’ll wash up… maybe. Not like I plan on going anywhere with anyone. Seriously Ral, no one is asking me to go with them, I scare them all.” She waved off the thought before smiling smugly, “Although I know someone has been wanting to ask  _you_. Maybe he will buy you those pretty earrings.” A toothy grin shown in triumph as Ralene started to blush.

 

“If I see Luma I will give the good professor a buying tip for when he stops by. On that note why don’t you close up shop soon? You work harder than I do. I might make the stuff, but you get people to buy it.” Before Ralene could babble a retort Itisha bolted back to the workshop and off to the side door leading to the forge where she made the heavy duty parts and pieces for customers.

 

Behind her she could hear Ralene shouting through the home, “ _Make sure you eat something!_ ”

 

Itisha laughed while she made sure everything was bundled up in burlap and placed in the large crate. After some lamenting about needing to wear shoes at all, she moved and pulled on boots and haphazardly tied them. Good enough. She shoved a wallet into her pocket and she hefted the crate up. Her favorite cap was pulled onto her head and finally she went out the back stairwell and down the steps. The box hefted onto her shoulder.

 

The streets were busy today, she managed to finally get to the station by maneuvering through the back alleyways. It seemed as though nearly everyone was out and about today for the celebration. They were all wearing their very best for the current holiday. Which made her stick out more like a sore thumb than usual if she had been walking out with everyone.

 

Of course after she dropped off the goods and accepted the other half of her payment, she knew that getting to the cafe would mean dealing with people. Which meant being her messy sooty self. Maybe she really should have washed up. Except the amount of time it would take to get the soot off of her would be ridiculous and would make her late.

 

"Ugh. People. The forge is so much quieter. Doesn’t crowd you either," She murmured her thoughts out loud, looking upward as if the sky had a map, "That alley should take me close to the healer. I’ll be fine. Then I can drop off that payment. This last one should do it." Then Talith’s bill would be all paid off. 

 

As she was walking, she mostly ignored what was around her. Mostly keeping her eyes to the sky as she whistled. Itisha was rather excited to get this one bill payed off. She knew Talith was stubbornly working to help pay it off, but admittedly the blacksmithing brought in more money and they could easily use what Tal brought in for food. It would make her feel better to not worry about that being a “burden” even though neither sibling never thought it was such. Ralene and Talith would have done the same for her or they would have for Ralene if either of them got sick.

 

So it was while looking up that she nearly ran into someone, a blink as she looked down from the sky to the obstacle before her, “Ah sorry. ‘Scuse me. Must have been daydreaming.”

 

"Oh look, a little sootball. I didn’t realize you were a girl for a second there." One of the men commented. He started to brush off himself to remove some of the black smudging that got on his uniform.

 

"Of course she is a girl." The other replied, both of them were in uniform. Speaking as though she was not there was making Itisha annoyed, "I mean, have you ever seen a boy with pretty eyes like that?"

 

There was a huff, “I’m never looking at boy-” The face of the other was getting red in embarrassment. Though his stammering rebuttal was cut off with a sharp voice.

 

"Excuse me, I really need to get through. I have to go get some lunch and-" And now she was getting cut off as the taller of the pair seemed to give what he must have thought was a grin. Although he appeared as though he was leering at her instead like a lion looking at their fallen prey. Why did she even remotely mention food?

 

"How about we buy you some lunch. My friend here is willing to cover the bill, to apologize for calling you a boy." He reached out to gently touch her arm and she took a step back, "Hey, don’t be offended. We are just trying to be nice and apologize."

 

The other man grumbled about not wanting to pay, but he stared at her with a cat-like intensity, “Come on, do me a favor? I don’t want to have to listen to him telling the guys I think boys are pretty.”

 

Itisha’s eyes narrowed at them both, “No thank you. Really, I don’t want to impose. I appreciate the offer, but I really must be going. I’m late as it is.”

 

"Oh, well then how about we escort you? Get to know you along the way?" The soldier who tried to touch her before reached out again and suddenly his wrist was grabbed as she gave it a sharp twist. He let out a yelp of pain, and she simply held his arm in place.

 

"And I said no. Now if you will excuse me, I am fairly certain it is rude aren’t to touch a lady without her permission. Unless your mothers didn’t teach you that."

 

"You aren’t any lady. You’re just a-" The face was getting red now and the man looked ready to lunge at her, woman or not. He was sputtering words angrily as he tried to figure out the best way to get his wrist back from the vice-like grip.

 

Suddenly there were a pair of hands on her shoulders and Itisha whipped around to punch the source. The wrist of the soldier released as she brought up her fist to hit him. One of those mystery hands reaching up lightly to cup over her fist with a good natured smile. It was the smile that kept her from retaliating further, and the intricate mask.  _He_  was certainly nothing else she had seen today, but she knew the feel of him. He had magic.

 

"Ah, there you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you." There was such calm to his voice. As she nearly started to retort that he had the wrong person until she notices an almost pleading look in his eyes that made her blink for a moment. As much as she really  _didn’t_  want help, she was fairly certain that fighting a couple of soldiers wouldn’t be a good idea. Lesser of two evils was likely this stranger. Lucky her. This was entirely why she stayed inside.

 

"Yeah, streets are crowded as hell." She mumbled, "Don’t sneak up behind me…" No name. Crap, “You nearly became my punching bag again. You’ll need a bigger mask if I hit you.”

 

There was a growl from the red-faced man that stood beside his now injured companion, “Hey! We were busy here!”

 

Brow rose, though unseen behind the bird-like mask. A wash of feathered hair from black to white framed it, little amber beadings with metal findings decorating his hair almost made him look like a sort of costumed monster. The mask really was a marvel though. It had crafted metal in places at the beak and eyes and even the little chains and coins. Oh, she really wanted to study how it was made.

 

Although the mask seemed almost borderline fearsome, his brightly colored jacket made it look like he was aiming for something more festive.

 

“Oh? I do believe you were just leaving.” The stranger gave a flick of his hand at them, releasing her fist to force the men to turn their bodies against their wishes to make them march down the alley way.

 

"If you can, forgive them. What they lack in tact, they make up for in heart." Just lonely most likely, but it certainly did not excuse their actions. He was about to say something else before he looked behind him and sighed.

 

"Ah, you may have to forgive me, but it seems I have pulled you into my troubles. Walk with me." Without waiting for her answer he draped an arm around her shoulders. Not even a care that she was staining that fine white flowing shirt he had on under the bright jacket. Just bringing her along as he walked, "Look straight ahead and act natural."

 

There was a small snort, “First horny soldiers hitting on me and now magical bird men telling me to act natural. And Ral wonders why I don’t leave the shop.” The woman grumbled as she was led along. Walking with heavy steps as she took a quick glance back and… strange shapeless things with hats and no faces were coming up behind them. Slithering soft sounds as if they had no real footsteps in the world. Eyes widened and she looked at him.

 

“What in the name of… what the hell is following us _?!_ ”

 

Well, her reaction  _was_ natural one in this situation. So she was still following his rules sort of. Except for looking back. He stopped when more were appeared in the path in front of them and he veered them quickly down another alley. A dead end from the looks of things, “Nothing you need to worry yourself over. They are only after me.” He started to urge her to follow along faster, “Run.”

 

A simple order and she didn’t need to be asked twice. A brisk walk turned into a shuffled run with such a confined space, “That is a dead end. Where the hell are we going to go from the-ACK!”

 

A sound of surprise as one step didn’t hit anything solid. Just empty air and they were going u, and up. The slithering sounds behind them surged into a roar as the pair escaped just in time to have the things reaching for their feet and missing by inches.

 

They were floating! Her legs curled up instinctively which caused a chuckle from the man beside her. A glare aimed at him as he seemed unbothered by her disgruntlement.

 

Instead he grinned at her, “Deep breaths. Stretch your legs out and walk as though you were on the ground still.”

 

Slowly she followed his instructions and he happily coached her along, “That’s it. Great. See? We’re floating.” He mused as they stepped off a chimney. Even her braid was floating about behind her. “Excellent work.”

 

"Okay, admittedly this is pretty cool." Itisha mumbled as she realized in all of this he was carefully holding onto one of her hands. Must have grabbed it when they started getting up into the air. Nope, scratch that, he had both of her hands and was slightly behind her. Made the source of the voice beside her ear as they floated over the crowds of people, "Um… as much as I love this flying thing, I do need to get to the cafe. I really am late now. My sister has to be worried sick." She admitted, sort of in wonder over this entire thing. She was flying and it didn’t involve dying or screaming bloody murder. He chuckled and that made her skin crawl, but not in the bad way. Just made her nervous as all hells. Perhaps it was all a soot-induced hallucination.

 

“Of course. Musn’t worry your sister.” He agreed, a grin still playing on his lips. Charming woman, a mess, but charming. Once she wasn’t trying to hit you or curse your existence. Very nearly his type. Far too easily angered though and he didn’t want such heated anger singing his feathers if it was turned onto him.

 

They floated their way down all the way to the balcony to the cafe where a few tables and chairs were set out. Customers were seated there and able to witness this spectacle. Although some were suddenly frantic about backing up as Itisha and the mysterious man lit down on the railing.

 

He gently lowered her to the wooden deck of it and smiled, “A pleasure to have flown with you, Miss...”

 

"Itisha. And I suppose so." She gave a little bit of a smile. Okay, admittedly that had been fun as hell, even with creepy shadow-whatsits. "Be careful of whatever those things were. I might want to fly again sometime. Hard to do if my ride gets eaten up."

 

Rich laughter spilled out and he beamed at her, “I will be careful, Lady Sootsprite. I will lead them off to keep you safe. Stay inside for a little while.” He gave a sweeping bow and with a wink he straightened and lifted his mask up slightly for her to get just a glimpse under. A finger over his lips in a shushing manner before lowering it and about-facing to hop off and vanish down into the crowds below.

 

"Wow…" Itisha murmured in awe, not even bothered by the cute little title. Her bewilderment shattered when there was a surprised cry from behind her.

 

"Itisha?! Someone just told me you  _flew_  here!” Talith ran out, pale blue hair done in an intricate braid whipped about like a tail as she rushed towards her sister. Talith was already demanding the entire story, and there was absolutely no reason at all Itisha wouldn’t share it.


	2. How the Night Went Wrong

Bright gold-beige eyes were wide in absolute wonder as Itisha recited the events, “That must have been the wizard, Keiden! He devours hearts!” Then she seemed embarrassed because, well, this wizard helped her sister.

Still, it couldn’t have been anyone else, right? Who else had a bird mask? “At least… I heard that. You do still have a heart, right? I’m not going to have to sic Ral on him?”

A soft laugh and Itisha kissed her sister’s cheek, “Yes I still have my heart. Beating away just like yours is.” She grinned as she polished off the second half of her sandwich. Then she took a long several gulps of the lemonade that she gripped all too tightly out of sheer nerves, “Which, speaking of hearts, I should really hurry. Got that last payment to drop off for you.” A smile as she bounced up to hug Talith tightly,

“And then we’ll be doing much better. After all, I am making really good money on train parts, and I have it on good authority that there will be another train made soon for shipping to one of the main cities and they will need lots of parts for that.” Jewelry was fine and all, a good supplement even, but the train parts were the best income. Especially when they were being slightly more frugal on spending to make sure they had food and work supplies after health costs.

“Really?! That’s great Iti!” Talith beamed and hugged her sister back nice and tightly. Face buried into her sister’s shoulder, “You and Ral worked so hard to make sure I was healthy again.” Her words muffled by sooty fabric as happy tears escaped. Talith didn’t even care that the soot was getting all over her face. Itisha always smelled like metal and smoke. That was just her scent, and it was a comforting one. Just like how Ralene smelled like the cool mint of tea and the polish that she used to make the jewelry shine brightly.

Itisha smiled softly and picked her sister up and spun her once. Once upon a time her sister was much smaller when she did this. Now the younger woman was slowly getting taller, but she was still so feather light, “Yes we did, and the only way we will allow you to pay it back is through you enjoying the life you have. Got it? We love our little sister, which means the fact we were able to keep you in our life a gift. Bring something home and we can celebrate together. We can get so fat that they will have to crane lift us onto freight trains!”

She moved to take out some of her extra money and stuck it in Talith’s pocket of her apron and took a step back, wiping the soot off of Talith’s pale face and smearing it instead, “No cooking for any of us tonight. Maybe we can invite Luma over and then your cute cook, Felde.”

Talith squeaked and her cheeks turned a bright red under the smeared soot , “You know?!” Her eyes went oh so wide as she seemed utterly mortified.

Laughter rang out as Talith’s cheeks grew even brighter shade, “Of course I know. He was the first one to ask how you were after we found the healer to help you.” He also helped pay to get the down payment to get the healer to help at all. The illness Talith had was severe, and understandably the healer was worn out from fixing it. The healer also had their utmost gratitude.

They were lucky, and Itisha was grateful to Felde. Of course the women promised not to tell Talith where the money to help came from at the time. Felde wanted to earn her affection properly.

“He… he really is sweet.” Talith said softly and rubbed her neck before taking out one of her handkerchiefs from a pocket and rubbing some of the soot off herself. There was a reason her outfit was greys and blacks. Always wanted to have an excuse to hug her sister. “This morning… he asked me something…”

Itisha raised a brow and watched her sister’s cheeks somehow turn shades darker as she drew out a small black box from her pocket and she opened it. A ring with a rich blue topaz nestled into gold flower petals with a wide band with etched feathers into it. Itisha knew it because she made it, although Ral never told her who bought it.

“Oh, Talith!” There was a grin and Itisha moved to scoop her sister up again, except this time her hands went right under the arms and she picked her up high over her head and spun her overhead with a loud gleeful laugh as her sister squealed in surprise.

“That is great! That is wonderful! You should announce it at dinner tonight!” The strong woman set her sister down with practiced care and she was simply beamed as her sister carefully tucked the ring away. Didn’t want it to get ruined by work after all.

“Then you can both tell me more about it later! I need to get going before the healer closes.” A quick kiss for her sister’s flushed cheek who was astonished by the brightness and joy her sister had. Talith watched the sooty snowball running out of the back room and out the back door.

“She really should have been a dancer.” Felde mused from the doorway of the kitchen, short dark midnight blue currently covered by a white head scarf as he wiped hands off on the apron, “Told you that she would have taken it well.”

Talith made a surprised sound and spun, trying to glare at him for eavesdropping. Instead it was hard to fight off the smile she had at the taller man. She studies his dark eyes and almost ashen skin, “Itisha wanted to when she was little, but you know how that went. This though… she was so happy. I haven’t seen her smile like that in a while.”

A smile formed and Felde came forward to kiss Talith’s forehead and he grinned. It was an expression he saved mostly for her. To others he generally came off looking serious, “That is because she loves you. She is happy when you are. Come on, break is almost over and we are going to have another rush soon. You need to clean up” Mayday was always so busy. He led her off to help clean the soot off of her face and get ready for the next big rush.

\-------

Itisha wasted no time, she managed to gracefully get between people to get to the healer’s office. Luckily still open, given that most people had accidental injuries. The bill was paid off and the rest of the day went smoothly.

Itisha even dug out one of her rarely worn dresses for dinner as soon as she got home. An orange flowing skirt and short puffed sleeves on the dress she pulled on after making the effort to clean up. Even her hair looked somewhat presentable in places. Couldn’t get all the black and grey out, but she cleaned it up a bit the best she could. No heart to cut it all off, but she braided it and disguised the burnt chunks sticking out with the little orange blooms that their mother used to keep. It all used to be their mother’s.

Ralene refused to take the items and claimed they fit Itisha the best anyway. Apparently she wanted to make sure Itisha had something to remember their mother by. Though Itisha managed to give a few things to their youngest sister.

Their father spoiled all the girls when he could. Their mother adored them all, but Itisha took a shine to their mother and tried to learn to be a graceful dancer like her. Asked her to always do her hair up in braids and flowers. Begged her to show her how to dance. Ralene knew that, and when their parent’s passed, she made sure that some of Itisha’s favorite things from their mother landed in her room. A look in the mirror and Itisha took a deep breath. Some days she dreamed of their parents being able to see them working together in the shop and dancing and being adults now.

Fingers played with the silver chain and wrapped raw fire opal where metals were twisted to make a star shape wrapped around it. It was rarely worn now, but it was well loved and she continued to give it attentive care. Itisha looked at the doorway when she felt eyes on her and studied her sister, “What do you think? Do I look presentable for dinner tonight?”

Ralene looked her over. Her own hair let loose with mere pins at the temples. Ralene was even wearing some new jewelry tonight. The pieces Itisha just finished today plus its matching companion, the necklace. She had a soft white blouse on and a dark blue skirt that came from high on the waist down to her ankles, “If you had brown hair, you would look almost exactly like Mom.”

It was funny how none of them had darker features. Their father had blue-black hair and nearly just as dark of skin with near amber eyes. Their mother was paler, but she had rich light brown skin and auburn hair and green eyes. All of them had managed to be fair haired girls. Their father always said it must have come from their great grandmother, although they had never met her. Talith had their father’s eyes the most and frankly as far as Itisha was concerned, Ralene was closer in tone and eyes to their mother.

“You forget the green eyes. Mom had those, and you know, a tan.” Itisha smiled a bit sheepishly though. It made her feel warm inside to hear her sister say that. With different colors, she really could look a lot like her mother “I miss her a lot. They would have really wanted to see Talith smiling so much today. They would have loved Felde.”

A soft smile and Ralene came in with soft steps of slightly heeled shoes, kissing the top of Itisha’s head. Still smelled like the forge and her work no matter how much soap was used, “I know. I miss them too. I bet they would be proud of how hard we all worked to prove we were good enough and to keep her smiling today.”

“They would be proud of all of us.” Itisha agreed out with a smile. It had been a long time. Thinking of them hurt a lot less than before.. A look to Ral’s wrist watch that miraculously never died. It had used to be their father’s pocket watch that Itisha made a new chain for so it could always be worn.

“They are going to be here soon. We should make sure the table is set. Tal is bringing home food tonight.” Itisha states after looking at the watch and tapping on its glass face a little, “Rushing around won’t be any good.”

Ralene nodded and started to turn to leave, “Lumaria is getting them a gift in congratulations. He should be here after them.”

A grin shone from Itisha, “Both of my sisters finding husbands, eh?” She watched her older sister turn beet red and scowl at her. So worth it seeing color flood her sister’s face and lose her composure.

“We are not getting married! He just got me these as a Mayday gift!” The older retorted, that calm breaking under the pressure of embarrassment and she seemed far younger than she was for that moment. Hands instinctively went to cover her cheeks, as if hiding evidence. A worse shade of red when Itisha started laughing at her. Itisha really was happy for both of them though, it could be seen in her laughter and Ralene couldn’t help but giggle weakly with her.

Blonde hair danced when Ralene’s head shook, “He wants to wait. You know what happened to his last wife.” He was interested, but he also was unsure. The gift had been a true surprise. Ralene frankly hadn’t expected anything.

Itisha smiled up at her when she approached her sister before tugging her out to the dining room. It was enough to get Ralene out of her momentary fret over Luma and the two went through making sure the utensils were set, the tea set was set out.

It had been a while since the entire table was set up so nicely and nearly all the chairs filled. Everything looked ready, and Itisha looked over it all to make sure everything was perfect for when their sister got home.

“You know, you are incredibly patient. That is what makes you so great. You are willing to wait for him and he probably appreciates that about you. He just wants to make sure you also know that he cares a great deal about you. That you aren’t forgotten or given up on.” Itisha offered the words after they were finished. Filling in the time with waiting with discussion that she had a feeling Ralene avoided for much the same reason Itisha avoided some uncomfortable topics. No one wanted to feel like a burden of any sort.

“I swore we dropped this… and yes I am patient. It is very difficult though.” She admitted, idly straightening the lacy place mats they had over the hard wood table. “I care a great deal about him. I just don’t want to be a replacement.”

Ralene hesitated with her next admission, “I… had asked him first to wait actually. He proposed once. I was scared and turned him down.” Of course when she got over the shock and was ready to say yes, then he agreed they should wait. Hoping for them to be on the same page again was hard. Yet… it also made her question the sincerity of his affections.

That part Itisha had not known. Itisha hugged her big sister before helping by fussing with flowers on the table. A knock at the door had her cocking her head like a cat before looking at it.

“It will happen when it is meant to. Just like how I was sure everything would be okay with Talith and the bills and everything else. I just see things that way.” Itisha said. Of course sometimes she wondered if Luma wasn’t entirely the best choice for her sister. It was not her choice though. Itisha was firm in her belief that Ralene ultimately knew what made her happy.

“I’ll get it!” Itisha ran for the door then. Beaming as she threw the door open and threw her arms around her sister with a tight hug. Felde must have anticipated that, as he was carrying everything and seemed to have that ghost of a smile on his face. Which for Felde that was some form of grinning.

The rest of the evening went just as well after Lumaria. There was laughter, dinner, smiles. A room full of warmth and teasing and happiness. Much teasing about Itisha finding someone of her own. Talith even managed to coax a dance from her sister and with it a promise that the blacksmith would perform for the wedding.

It was a good night. After the guests left for the evening everyone went to bed. Everyone that was, except Itisha. The woman was at her worktable again. She was working on a pair of ring molds. Rough sketches covered her work table. She was inspired to start on it now so that she could ensure herself they would be perfect in time for the wedding. Who needed sleep anyway, right?

Itisha was in the midst of carving out the wax carefully before she heard a sound from the shop. Form stilled and she at another sound. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation? A frown when she slowly moved to stand, bare feet silent and her skirt staying softly. Her carving tool was held in her hand tightly as she walked out towards the shop. Maybe Ralene forgot to put something away?

“If you are a thief, I warn you I work with some forge equipment and I will happily show you just how hard I hit.”

A cool feminine voice responded and it gave Itisha immediate chills. It was not her sister at all. “A thief? Would that not be the pot calling the kettle black, my dear?”

The owner of the voice seemed to be nowhere and everywhere. It was dark in the shop, and Itisha went to flick on the lights, but they weren’t working. Then Itisha heard a slithering sound and it made her heart sink.

“I am not a thief, I live here. Not sure what the hells you are on about.” Itisha took several more steps in and frowned. The cold sickly feeling felt eerily familiar. Still, she wasn’t going to leave now. That sickening fear was being quickly replaced by anger. Knowing some stranger was hiding in the house her sisters were also in made her feel protective.

“Oh? I can easily disagree. It seems you were quite happy to steal away Keiden’s heart from me.” A purr, but it wasn’t a pleasant one of a cuddly cat. No. It was like that of a predator playing with their food. It made the air seem colder and Itisha felt nauseous, “Did he show you what lay under his mask, little smith? Did he give you the smile that devoured a hundred hearts?”

“What the hell are you on about? I don’t even know who this Keiden person is. Get the fuck out of my shop.” A growl as she bared her teeth, searching around in the dark room, careful not to run into anything. The purr she heard seemed to shift more into that rumbling sound before a rapid dog bit you. Itisha wasn’t entirely sure how she knew the difference, but she felt it in her instincts that this was not good. That the smart decision would have been to run.

“So unlady like. Certainly not his normal bread and butter. He must be getting bored and wanted a new play thing. Abandoned you to danger rather quickly though didn’t he?” The voice scoffed. Suddenly there was a tall slender woman with dark skin and sickly yellow eyes behind Itisha. A smirk showing on black lips when the blacksmith spun to face her, “Not very pretty either, perhaps it was merely pity he felt upon looking at you.”

In the dark, even Itisha could just make out the dark silken hair that fell from crown to floor in a curtain. It seemed to bleed into the flowing fabric that spilled off her hips and onto the floor as though becoming part of the whole.

“Such star-like eyes. That must have been what drew him. It would be such a pity if you could no longer use them. If only you were as pretty as the jewelry you made. You might have been a challenge for me.”

Itisha had started to move with the intention to shove her tool into the witch, but her body felt suddenly sluggish. As soon as thin fingers with long nails touched her face, she was paralyzed. Her stomach twisted in sickening fear at the sound of the witch’s laughter.

“Who are you?” Itisha whispered. She felt her mind fog. The urge to fight gone. Instead, she wanted to run. Just wanted to take her sisters and run far away. Hide if they needed to. Anywhere but where the witch was at.

A laugh from the Witch hushed her, and suddenly her voice was gone, “No speaking, your voice is quite irritating. Mm, yes, we must make sure you do not share that you saw me at all.” A move to touch two clawed fingers against the forehead and brushing her hands slowly down, forcing Itisha to shut her eyes when the claws rested over the lids.

“I think I will give you a gift. You should thank me for my leniency. Most do not survive the encounters of the Witch of the Waste.” A purr of her voice as she leaned forward and licked a fallen tear off of Itisha’s cheek. Making the frightened woman shudder at the act.

“Ah, but you are of no danger to me. It matters not if you die now does it? Your worth lies only in your craft. I certainly do hope you have metal tools.” A wicked laugh, knowing the tool Itisha had was completely wooden. The witch made a strike of magic and she watched as Itisha’s body hitched in an arch. A silent scream escaping the blacksmith while dark magic twisted around the nails and vanished into her closed eyes.

Itisha’s body jerked and trembled before she collapsed on the floor, tool rolling away from her hand. Too blind from pain to hear what was going on around her. Trembling shakes broken by occasional whimpers and sudden jerks.

“It would be such a delight to watch you try to find Keiden. Not that you are any use if you can’t fawn over his appearance.” Mocking laughter as she looked down at the unresponsive body and she brushed herself off as though there had been dirt on her. A move to pick up the offending wooden tool of earlier and she rolled it about in her hand.

“No matter, you cannot tell anyone of your curse or of what happened here this night. Our little secret, Little Sootsprite. Do give my regards if you do manage to see him again.” She laughed suddenly as though she had made a hilarious joke, “One day he will come crawling back to me.”

With that she was gone, and Itisha continued to tremble on the floor for what felt like forever. The spell of silence still on her as she started to finally paw at the floor blindly. Although she was coming to the slow realization that she could only see the glinting metal twisted in a star from the pendant around her neck. Not the gem it had, but the star.

Itisha’s hand wrapped around it and her whole body shook as she surrendered to tears. Shock started running its course. It took a while for any semblance of calm to take hold.

What was she going to do now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is roughly a year of work between classes and life and all sorts of things that pulled me in every which way. I never thought I would write out an entire story based off a writing prompt of writing my own characters in the places of different characters from another world. Yet I did and here is the first chapter! This whole thing has been written and now revised for your reading pleasure!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading my story as much as I had writing it!
> 
> Inspiration from both the Ghibli version of Howl's Moving Castle and Diana Wynne Jones' novels. Also from Anita Blake's Jason who infiltrated my head and demanded he make an appearance as well as my sister's characters and our conjoined efforts of character building and my girlfriend who sent me that evil prompt in the first place.
> 
> Thank you for reading!!!


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